BBC news 2010-09-04 加文本

BBC news 2010-09-04

BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

The man who led Britain into war in Afghanistan and Iraq, Tony Blair, has described radical Islam as the greatest threat facing the world. In a BBC World Service interview, the former British prime minister said radical Islamists - whether in Chechnya, Kashmir, the Palestinian territories, Iraq or Afghanistan - believed that anything done in the name of their cause was justified.

"After September 11th, rightly or wrongly, I felt the calculus of risk had changed, and I feel it's still changed. I still think there is the most enormous threat from the combination of this radical extreme movement and the fact that if they could, they would use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. I think they would if they could, and I think you can't take a risk with that happening."

Mr Blair said Iran needs to understand it couldn't have nuclear weapons; otherwise it would be stopped. Mr Blair denied that his own policies when in power had fuelled support for radical Islamists.

Police in Pakistan say a suicide bomb at a Shia Muslim procession in the city of Quetta has killed at least 50 people. The procession is an annual event in support of the Palestinian people, and the bomber struck as he passed through a crowded market area. The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the bombing.

The Brazilian oil company Petrobras has unveiled plans to sell more than $64 billion of new stock in what some analysts are describing as the world's biggest ever share offering. The money will fund new developments aimed at turning Brazil into a major oil exporter. Here is our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

Petrobras has a very ambitious plan to spend over $200 billion on expanding production from Brazil's vast deep-sea oil and gas fields over the next four years. The plan to go to the capital market will raise an important part of the funds for that programme. Over $40 billion worth of the new shares will go to the government to pay for the right to exploit Brazil's offshore reserves. The company is retaining the right to expand further the offer of new shares if there is sufficient demand. The total could end up as high as $75 billion.

A court in Portugal has found six people guilty of sexually abusing children in a state-run orphanage in Casa Pia. They have been given prison sentences of between 5 and 18 years. Among these convicted were a prominent television presenter, a former ambassador, a lawyer and a doctor. From Lisbon, here is Alison Roberts.

Six of the 32 former Casa Pia pupils whose testimony triggered the investigation eight years ago were in court to hear the judges hand down custodial sentences to the six men accused of abusing them. Before that, the court heard a lengthy catalogue of hundreds of crimes ranging from attempted abuse to violent rape. Most were found to have been committed by Carlos Silvino, a driver at the institution, not only abusing children but passing them onto other abusers over three years.

World News from the BBC

The security forces in Colombia say they have killed at least 11 left-wing rebels in a clash in the northeast of the country, close to the Venezuelan border. The army said troops captured a camp belonging to the ELN - the smaller of Colombia's two guerrilla groups. The fighting came a day after the authorities confirmed that 14 policemen had been killed by suspected fighters of the larger rebel group, the Farc.

Figures for employment in the United States reveal a better-than-expected rise in private sector jobs, but the jobs market overall remains weak. A report for the US Labor Department shows that 67,000 new private sector jobs were created last month. President Obama said the figures were positive but not good enough. Mark Mardell reports from Washington.

With important elections for Congress, the Senate and state governors two months away, the state of America's economy is deeply political. And President Obama challenged his Republican opponents to support plans for tax cuts and loans for small businesses which they have so far blocked. Speaking outside the White House, he announced there would be more action soon.

"The key point I'm making right now is that the economy is moving in a positive direction. Jobs are being created; they are just not being created as fast as they need to, given the big hole that we experienced."

The European Union's trade commissioner, the Belgian Karel De Gucht, has apologized for remarks in which he spoke of a Jewish lobby in the United States, preventing peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr De Gucht said he hadn't meant to cause offence, and anti-Semitism had no place in today's world.

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude has struck the South Island of New Zealand. The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck some 30 kilometres from the country's third largest city of Christchurch. Initial reports say some roads and buildings there have been damaged.

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